Ball



T. A. LEWIS Jan. -5 1926.

BALL

Filed June 24, 1922 Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

ATENT, OFFICE,

' THOMAS A. nnwrs, on NEW YORK, n. Y.

BALL.

Application filed June 24, 1922. Serial Ho. 570,531.

To all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. LEWIS, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Balls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to balls and will be described herein in connection with golf balls.

The invention has for its principal object the provision of an elastic spherical core which is not subject to material distortion during the application of surrounding material thereto in making up the complete ball. Another object consists in providing a ball which is substantially free from relatively weak portions throughout, and stands up without failure for very long periods in use when subjected to repeated severe blows, as from a golf club, baseball bat or the like.

Another object of'the invention consists in the provision of a ball of such construction that uniform grade and quality of output can besecured in commercial production, with each ball practically identical with every other.

Another object of the invention isthe provision of a ball of the type in which elastic thread, ribbon,cord or the like is wound on the core and in which any desired tension can be applied throughout the winding of the ball from the beginning to the completion thereof and in which machine winding can be utilized in applying all of the elastic thread or ribbon or the like from the beginning to the end thereof and without substantial distortion.

Other objects of the invention will appear. in connection with the following description. In winding elastic filamentous material, such as rubber thread or ribbon, cotton or woolen thread, cord or the like on a deformable core such, for example, as a hollow rubber core, the tension applied to the elastic fwindings must be restricted at the start to avoid undue distortion of the core. This restricted tension durin this part of the winding results in interlor weakness when the subsequent windings are applied with increased tension and consequent breaking down of the ball in play due to the giving way of such relatively weaker portions. Also it has been found necessary to apply the initial windings by hand, with great care, in order to minimize to the greatest possibl degree the distortion necessarily caused to agreater or less-extent, and machine winding cannot be resorted to until after such initial windings have been applied by hand' to a substantial extent, usually amounting to the first, third or fourth of the entire winding, at which time the danger of undue distortion is overcome to a considerable extent, and machine winding may be restorted tothereafter. Such construction involving highly trained hand labor is expensive. Theproduct, involving the human element as it does to a-great extent, is necessarily lacking in the desirable quality of uniformity and, even when the utmost care is observed, the inherent weakness due to the restricted tension which must be applied during the winding of the inner layers of the elastic ribbon, thread, cord or the like eatly restricts the life of the ball under the severe usage to which it is subjected, and

These and related objections are avoided by balls made in accordance with my invention by which a highly elastic core is provided and which at the same time is not subj ectto distortion during the subsequent steps of making the completed ball.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention the rubber or other core in a state of high compression is provided with a metal shell, preferably of thin elastic metal of the nature of alloy steel or steel. In this way a core is provided of great elasticity and of practically perfect sphericity, an'dof great strength and freedom from distortion by externally applied compression stresses however uneven. ings or other overlying portions are provided, the ball is ractically entirely free from distortion and in applying the covering portions of elastic material whatever degrees of tension may be necessary to obtain best results may be utilized from the beginning of the winding until the winding is completed. Machine winding may be made use of throughout, thus practically doing away with hand labor and providing substantially uniform results inthe case of every ball produced, and giving great life I and wear throughout a very long period of When the elastic wind-- vention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ball of Fig. 1 prior to the application of the gutta percha or composition cover. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 1, but showing a modification. Figs; 4 and 5 are viewsv similar to Figs. 1 and 3 and showing further modifications. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with the substitution of compressed rubber sponge. for the rubber windings. Fig. 7 is a side view partly in section of an apparatus for applying the spherical shell in forming the core. Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view on line 8-8 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9

is a plan view of a doublemetallio shell with staggered joints.

Referring to Fig. 1, reference numeral 10 designates a rubber core whose walls are of uniform'thickness and preferably) contains a hollow interior portion 12,-the diameter of which may be greater than the thickness of the walls 10, or the void may be filled with a plastic or other material to give needed weight. Numeral 14 represents a hollow metallic shell enclosing the core 10. The shell 14 of Fig. 1 is surrounded by the wound elastic thread, ribbon or cord 16, and 18 represents the usual gutta percha orcomposi-y tion covering forming the exterior surface of the ball, which in the case of a golf ball is preferably provided with dimples or other equivalent surface markings 20.

The ball of Fig. 3 is like that of Fig. 1, except that the core surrounded by the shell 14 is made of compressible material 22, such as rubber sponge, cork or the-like.

The ball illustrated in Fig.- 4 has a core 22 of material similar to the core 22 of the ball of Fig. 3, and in this case the covering material between the shell 14 and the cover 18 is preferably made of material similar to that 'of the interior of core 22 and is desig-.

nated by reference numeral '22". The ball of Fig. 5 is the same as that of Fig. 4, except that the interior core 10 is of the hollow rubber type similar to that shown in Fig. 1.

In applying the spherical metallic shell to the core, provision is preferably made for insuring that the core materialiwithin the shell shall be in a high state of compression. One mode of application of the metallic shell is illustrated in Fig. 7, in which the compressible core material 10 is of ovoidform and of considerably larger bulk than the bulk thereof after themetal shell has been ap- I plied. The metallic shell is made up of two ollow hemispheric portions 14?. and 14", andthe core material 10 having been inserted in a tube 24 preferably with the application the meta of pressure thereto in order to insert same within the tube 24, the shell portions 14- and 14 are brought together about the core material 10 in any suitable apparatus, such, for example, as that shown in Fig. 7. The shell portions 14 and 14 are supported in slidable holders 26 and 28, which are forced together uniformly from each side upon the core material 10, as by means of a right and left hand screw'30 operated by the crank 32. Provision is made for securing the meeting edges of the hollow hemispherical metal shellstogether. In the form shown, the tube 24, which is fastened by the thumb screw 34 in the holder 36,.is provided with a plurality of openings 38.at substantially the middle thereof, through which the meeting edges ofthe shells 14 and 14 are exposed and same may be secured together by elastic spot welding, soldering or. other equivalent means. Any small excrescences which may appear after the shell parts are secured together are preferably faire'd up so as to leave a truly spherical shell, though this may be dispensed with, particularly with the cheaper grades of ball. Two or'more metallic shells with staggered seams may be used in lieu of welding, and inFig. 9 I have shown an inner shell 42 in two halves surrounded by the outer shell 44 also in two halves, the seam lines 42and 44 being arranged at right angles to one another.

I The built-up shell comprising the interior core material of any desired construction with the elastic metallic shell surrounding same, provides. a highly'elastio core upon which the surrounding material may be applied with' practically no resulting distortion, however uneven may be the compression or other stresses applied thereto. Such metallic shell may be, for example, of strong elastic alloy steel of a thickness of in the neighborhood of .006 to .008. It is pref- ..erably supplied with a thin coating of adhesive material, such as rubber cement, and in case the surrounding materialwound up is rubber thread or ribbon 16, the composite core comprising the inner core material and lie shell may be placed direct in a winding machine of. known construction and the winding applied directly thereto with no preliminary hand winding such as was heretofore found necessary to prevent distortion of distortible cores, or if desired, the

surrounding material maybe of other construction as, for example, a sufiicientthickness .ofrubber sponge22 may be supplied and the cover 18 placedthereon undersuitable compression.

The core having a metallic outer. surface and of high elasticity and substantially free from distortion by uneven external stress may be produced in various ways within the scope of my invention and a variety of core materials may be received thereinunder high compression. I have above referred to hollow rubber cores and cores of cork or of compressed rubber sponge, but the core interiors may be of various other types as, for eX- ample, same may comprise a spherically wound spring of highly resilient wire or may be made up of a mass of brush wire or mineral wool, or in various other ways.v

While the spherical shell, is preferably complete without interruption, this is not essential in all cases as perforated metal or v other reticulated metallic material may be utilized, if desired, and various other changes may be resorted to within the scope of my invention.

It will be apparent that full tension'may be applied with the rubber thread from the commencement of the winding without fear of distorting the core, and that a substantial truly spherical form may be maintained at all times and the cover moulded on as a sub stantially true sphere. I With this construction when the ball is struck by the bat or.

for example, by electric. deposition or in any mode whereby a core isa secured which is made non-deformable by a strong metallic shell.

I claim: I

1: A core for forming the central innermost portion of a ball, said core comprising a hollow metallic shell and compressed elastic material within said shell.-

2. A golf ball having an innermost cen tral core comprising a hollow rubber sphere having concentric walls surrounded by a metal shell; a

3. he ball,-an'innermost central core, a metallic shell immediately adjacent to and surrounding said core, and resilient compressed material applied over said shell.

4. In a ball, an innermost central composite core comprising compressed elastic material surrounded by a strong elastic metallic shell, a cover and resilient compressed material between the shell and cover.

5. A golf ball having a hollow rubber core surrounded by a metallic shell and wound with rubber thread, tape or the like, under tension, and fitted with a cover.

6. In a ball, a composite core comprising compressed elastic material surrounded by inner and outer metallic shells with staggered seams.-

7. The process of making a ball, which consists in providing a core having a substantially undeformable metallic exterior and winding elastic thread, tape, cord or the like upon said core, the windings being applied under undiminished tension from the start. I

8. The process of making a ball which comprises compressing elastic material between two hollow hemispherical shells of thin elastic metallic material, securing said shells together, winding elast1c thread, tape,

cord or the like upon the metallic shell, and applying a cover over the wound material.

9. In a golf ball, a normally readily deformable innermost central core, an elastic armoring shell applied around said core which is substantially non-deformable, elastic material in a state of compressionabout' said shell, and a cover about the elastic material.

10. In a playing ball, a normally readily deformable innermost central core, a substantially non-deformable thin elastic shell confining said core in a state of compression,

rubber'strands wound under tension about said shell and maintained bysaid shell in substantially spherical form as the winding proceeds, and a cover. 4 a

In test1mony whereof, I have signed my THOMAS A. LEWIS.

name hereto. 

